‘Big Love:’ Mr. Henrickson goes to Washington

A few yens edged to the fore this week: Margene and Ben indulged in a passionate kiss; Alby and Dale seem to have had sex at the compound (they definitely had sex in a hotel); J.J. was able to terrorize even more people than before, including his sister and brother-in-law; and Barb finally hit someone with her car.

The big arc this week followed Bill to Washington, a trip with multiple agendas. He was hoping to get the endorsement of a powerful Utah congressman for his own bid for the statehouse, and he also hoped to rekindle his sex life with Nicki. He managed to achieve one of those things, sort of: After much finagling, including some tense bidness with high-powered lobbyist Marilyn Densham (Sissy Spacek, a welcome addition to the cast) and a little gate-crashing, he did get a donation from the congressman that could be interpreted as an endorsement. I did have one small issue with that part of the story: I would have liked to see Bill squirm a little more, and I thought that Marilyn got all twinkly and supportive of him awfully quickly.

The other agenda didn’t work out, partly because Nicki insisted on bringing Cara Lynn with her. She said she wanted to show the wider world to the girl. She had apparently told the girl to get J.J.’s OK; predictably, Cara Lynn didn’t, and J.J. didn’t react well. When Cara Lynn was not returned to the compound, which was part of the agreement he struck with Bill that would allow Cara Lynn to attend school on the outside, he pounded on Margene’s door, demanding to know where she was. He also issued a threat: If Bill was going to traffic in kidnapping, J.J. might just have to do the same thing. (I’m hoping this was an idle threat, though J.J. doesn’t strike me as an idle threat kinda guy; I think it’s too soon for another kidnapping, since so much of last season revolved around the Greenes taking Barb’s niece. If he does kidnap someone, though, my money’s on Teenie, who doesn’t have any storyline to speak of — I suspect she may have came home from camp specifically to fall victim to J.J.)

J.J. was a very busy man in this episode. He also spent some time terrorizing poor Wanda, suggesting that Roman might need to be exhumed — a big problem, since Roman scratched Joey during that last struggle, meaning that Joey’s DNA is under Roman’s fingernails. And so, just as J.J. expected — he had his wheelchair-bound wife monitor Roman’s grave just in case — Joey and Wanda headed to Roman’s final resting site after dark to dig up the Prophet themselves. It’s not clear what the game plan is, though I’m guessing they may be planning to either move or destroy the corpse, possibly leading to more shennanigans with Roman’s rotting caracass.

While all of that was going on, Margene was preparing for her big primetime debut on the home shopping channel. Her boss told her she could — and should — invite family and friends to come watch her in the studio, but Margene couldn’t quite rustle anyone up — Bill and Nicki were in D.C., Barb was busy with her life and even Jodean (when the hell did she and Margene become so buddy/buddy?) wasn’t able to come out. Then Ben, in a grand romantic (in the creepiest sense) gesture, turned up, and Margene, caught up in the moment, gave him a great big kiss that was definitely not maternal. That led Margene’s boss, who saw the smooch, to assume that Ben was Mr. Heffman, and she introduced him as such, making sure the camera caught him. That did not thrill Barb, who was watching the show at home with possible-future-kidnapping-victim Teenie.

Meanwhile, back at the compound, the Juniper Creekers are pushing to get out from under Dale’s thumb. Alby, meanwhile, can’t seem to focus on much of anything but sex when he’s in the room with Dale — they seem to have had sex right there on the compound right after that meeting. Dale told Alby that they wouldn’t have their homosexual urges in the after-life, which seemed to bring great comfort to Alby; that sense of well-being was snatched away when Roman popped into his head, telling him how disgraceful his urges are. Alby also snapped a picture of himself lying in bed beside a sleeping Dale with his cell phone — is that a memento, or, with the use of a little photoshop, a blackmail device?

But wait! There’s more! Barb, who seems to be the only Henrickson putting in any time at all at the casino, accidentally hit a woman with her car, then tried to make amends by offering her a job in the casino. The problem? The victim is a known meth addict, so Tommy was not at all pleased with Barb’s job offer. Meanwhile, Sarah, who was with Barb in the car, took in the junkie and her child, something that may not sit well with her new hubby when he returns from Idaho.

So, what did you think? Where do you think things are headed? What do you think of the political storyline? And what do you think the repercussions will be of the “Nicki’s got a gun” incident?